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Friday, May 25, 2012

Review: Dearly, Departed

Blurb:

Love can never die.

Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?

The
year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on
the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high
society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her
country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But
after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her
domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the
family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora,
no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army
of walking corpses.

But fate is just getting started with Nora.
Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly
gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos
and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell
along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram
Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead.
But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and
modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners,
and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to
tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease
will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then,
beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

This book is an awesome read! Nora is a great heroine and Bram is a superb leading man. I really enjoyed all the characters because they all seemed well-rounded and realistic, complete with likes, dislikes, hopes, fears and all that good stuff.

I completely adored the setting of this book! New Victoria is a really cool steampunk future. I love the idea of culture going backwards, while still retaining some technology. I've always enjoyed stories set in Victorian times, but with the addition or technology, a rich history and zombies, well, it gets even better!

I think the zombie concepts were handled well. I liked the idea that sometimes zombies come back feral and sometimes they come back relatively normal. I guess it adds an extra bit of chance!

On the Cover:

Beautiful cover. I am totally in love with this cover! Everything is perfect! The model, the font, the colours, everything!! Favourite Character:

I love Pamela Roe. While she is only a secondary character, I still think she is awesome, especially at the end!

Bonus: The cover of the second book in the series, Dearly, Beloved, has just been released. What do you think? I think the picture is pretty, but I'm not crazy about the placement of the author's name.